Wireless telephones and wireless networks have been developing rapidly. As the demand for wireless communications has increased, wireless telephones have improved along with the wireless networks on which the wireless telephones operate. These improvements are apparent from the improved quality of service and the increase of features available on wireless telephones. As wireless service providers provide more wireless telephone features through their wireless networks, new wireless telephones with additional capabilities must be implemented and distributed to wireless telephone customers. The wireless telephone market is very competitive and wireless service providers are racing to offer their customers more wireless telephone features.
As more and more features become available to wireless customers, wireless service providers promote new telephones capable of supporting these new features. This rapid development of wireless technology creates a situation where wireless service providers are constantly adapting new wireless telephones and telephone features to their wireless network. Accordingly, new wireless telephones are tested on the service provider's wireless network. Wireless telephones are also programmed to support new features.
Wireless service providers normally focus their services on particular geographic regions. The wireless service provider will maintain wireless networks in particular geographical regions. These wireless networks are designed to service their customer's wireless telephones. However, when a wireless customer leaves their wireless service provider's network, the wireless customer may still have wireless service. In these situations, the wireless customer is roaming.
Roaming is when a wireless telephone uses the wireless network of another wireless service provider. In some instances, the wireless service provider to which a wireless customer subscribes will have an arrangement with other wireless service providers in regions where the wireless service provider does not maintain a wireless network.
Wireless service providers do not have control of other wireless service providers' networks. Roaming in other wireless service providers' networks is both technically and administratively involved. Wireless service providers also provide wireless features on telephones that are roaming in other wireless telephone providers' networks. To provide these wireless features, the wireless service provider must coordinate with the other wireless service provider on both a technical and administrative level.
Due to the complexity of coordination between different wireless service providers, it is often very difficult for a wireless service provider to verify that their wireless telephones are operating as anticipated in other wireless service providers' networks which they do not control. Although a new model telephone may work in the home area of the customer's service provider, it may not work properly in some areas where the customer roams because other carrier's networks may not yet have been upgraded to support that model. Similarly, a new feature that works in the home area may not work while roaming in another area, because the carrier in the other area has not yet installed (or forgotten to turn on) that feature in one or more switches of the other carrier's network. From a customer service standpoint, it is important that the wireless service provider ensure that the wireless features operate during roaming. This is especially important, if the wireless service provider has advertised that wireless features will operate during roaming.
Wireless service providers are also faced with the similar difficulty of coordinating compatibility in different parts of their own network. One reason for this is that many wireless service providers are actually a conglomerate of wireless service providers. Also, different wireless services may have merged together to form a larger network. As a result, there are technical and administrative differences throughout the network.
Accordingly, there is a need for wireless service providers to be able to test and correct the service of their wireless telephones within their network and in other wireless service providers' networks. This need must be cost effective, so that wireless service providers can sell their service to wireless customers at a competitive price. This need also must to be implemented in a short amount of time, to correct technical and administrative problems as they occur.